Chance Sisco

Sisco didn't make his season debut until early June, with the Orioles electing to go with older and seemingly less promising options despite their status as a clear rebuilding team. When he did eventually arrive, he was effective enough. His .210/.333/.395 line in 198 plate appearances certainly doesn't jump off the page, but it was good for a 96 wRC+, meeting the low offensive bar for the catcher position. He graded out quite poorly as a pitch framer, however, which could be part of the reason he was never able to wrestle the starting role away from a surprisingly decent Pedro Severino. If Sisco makes the step up this season to become the starting catcher he was projected to be as a prospect, he'll provide fantasy owners with a respectable amount of power (boosted by a hitter-friendly home park), but his 30.8 K% suggests that expectations should remain low for his batting average.

Sisco sputtered in his first extended taste of big-league action, hitting a miserable .181/.288/.269 in 184 plate appearances and getting sent to the minors twice despite the Orioles lacking a more compelling catching option. Sisco will be just 24 this season, so it's far too early to write him off, but the early returns have not been at all promising for a player who was supposed to be a bat-first catcher. He can't really blame bad luck for his poor output, as his BABIP sat at .293. What he can blame is a 35.9% strikeout rate. That's an acceptable mark if you're Joey Gallo, but not if you're Chance Sisco. Sisco's framing graded out quite poorly, so he'll have to hit if he's to be a starting catcher. If he does figure out how to hit, he'll have a friendly home park to boost his numbers.

The Orioles cleared the way for Sisco to be the primary catcher in 2018, yet in some ways, he is less exciting than ever from a fantasy perspective. He has been one of Baltimore's top prospects ever since he was drafted in 2013, but what was once seen as a potentially plus hit tool, may only be average or above average. What was once seen as potentially fringe-average power, may not even be that, although in today's game anything is possible. He was uncharacteristically pull-happy (54.5 percent) in a brief 10-game stint in the majors, cranking out two home runs while striking out seven times in 22 plate appearances. It's possible he forgets everything he learned in the minors and shows up this year looking to pull everything out of the park, in which case his batting average will suffer. He is still not a great defender, so if he's not hitting, Caleb Joseph will play over him. A lot of outcomes are in play for his age-23 season, and most of them involve him not finishing as a top-15 fantasy catcher.

One of the top pure hitters in the minors for a couple years now, Sisco seems to finally be solid enough defensively that most evaluators think he can stick behind the plate. The power has never projected to be a plus tool, and at this point it is hard to even throw a future 50 grade on it. However, as a catcher with a plus hit tool, he packs enough offensive punch to make him an eventual top-10 fantasy option at the position. He posted a 135 wRC+ and 83:59 K:BB in 112 games as a 21-year-old at Double-A Bowie, and he even earned a four-game run with Triple-A Norfolk to close out the season. Sisco lacks Jonathan Lucroy's defensive chops, but in a few years he could offer that kind of offensive output. He should start the year at Triple-A and may take over as Baltimore's starting catcher sometime this summer.

Sisco was slowed by a pair of injuries last season, but when healthy he showed why his bat figures to play well for the Orioles. At just 20 years old, Sisco displayed advanced plate discipline and contact skills with an 11.0% walk rate and 13.7% strikeout rate at High-A before earning a promotion to Double-A. There may not be another catching prospect in the game that has a better hit tool than Sisco and it led the Orioles to hang on to him despite other teams inquiring at the trade deadline. His power is still a work in progress and that facet of his game may never evolve beyond a fringe tool. His eight steals were a bit of a surprise. Oblique and finger injuries kept Sisco out for over a month, but he got enough game action to prove he is ready to begin the 2016 season at Double-A. Matt Wieters accepted his qualifying offer and will return as the starter in 2016, but Sisco could be an option later in the year.

Sisco spent the entire 2014 season at Low-A Delmarva, playing 74 games at catcher and 40 games at DH. It is not uncommon for a minor league team to play catching prospects at DH once or twice a week, but in Sisco’s case, a lot of his value hinges on him sticking behind the dish. He only threw out 20 percent of would-be basestealers, so he will need to improve upon that as he moves up to High-A. Sisco’s second half at the plate really put him on the prospect radar, as he slashed .361/.424/.456 in 66 games. However, he slashed just .267/.362/.344 in 90 at-bats against southpaws on the season, and if he’s not adding value on defense, and doesn’t improve upon those splits, he will need to make the big leagues as the strong side of a DH platoon, which means he really has to hit.